I have seen many shooting stars in my life but this was like nothing I have ever seen. It was so large and bright and felt so close that I was sure it was going to hit the earth. As I was driving sw on us377 towards Granbury it started in the left hand side of my vision and it started out almost parallel with the horizon but as it moved along the horizon it became increasingly closer to the earth when it finally exploded. Its tail was very bright as well and almost seemed thicker than the actual fireball.
Location
Address
Granbury, TX
Latitude
32° 28' 58.2'' N (32.482832°)
Longitude
97° 40' 55.88'' W (-97.68219°)
Elevation
-
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2012-04-15 23:02 CDT
UT Date & Time
2012-04-16 04:02 UT
Duration
≈7.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up left to down right
Descent Angle
135°
Moving
Facing azimuth
233.13112°
First azimuth
216.45167°
First elevation
49°
Last azimuth
242.86578°
Last elevation
30°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
1
Color
white
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
3s
Length
10°
Remarks
The train followed very closely behind the fireball and I would describe it more as a tail. It was thick and the same color as the fireball. It only lasted a few seconds after the fireball disappeared.
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
As the fireball started to droop and come to the earth it exploded almost like a firework with a bright flash and you could very visibly see the fragments of the ball going in every which direction.
